Terminology

Black waste

Waste (usually in a cassette, for easy emptying) from your toilet.

Campervan

There's no hard and fast definition of the difference between a Campervan and a Motorhome.

One interpretation is that a Campervan is any Panel Van Conversion and a Motorhome is a Coachbuilt or A-Class design.

Another is that a Campervan doesn't have a washroom or other internal division of spaces.

Yet another is simply the overall size of the vehicle.

If a website you're viewing asks you which you have when you're booking something, look up what THEY consider the critical difference to be.

CL - Certified Location

A small site, with a limit of 5 pitches. Facilities may vary - CL sites can offer anything from a simple space in a field to a fully fledged miniature campsite with electric hook-up, fresh water, grey and black waste disposal facilities, toilets and even shower blocks.

You usually need to be a member of one of the camping clubs to book them.

Day van

Typically a people carrier that has some additional camping features added, usually along the driver's side. That will often include a sink, a small hob, some method of keeping perishables, such as a fridge or powered cool box, and maybe a cupboard for a porta-potti.

As the name suggests, these are primarily designed for day to day use as a vehicle, so will often have more belted seats than sleeping berths, but less comprehensive modifications for camping.

EHU - Electric Hook Up

Plugging your vehicle into a mains electricity supply, either via a bollard on a camp site, or using a converter to access the power in your home. This supplies mains electricity to the 3 pin sockets in your MoHo. Unless you have an inverter to convert 12V DC power from your leisure batter to 240V AC power, your 3 pin plugs will not work if you are not on hookup.

In most cases, this will also charge your leisure battery (or batteries if you have more than one), and in some cases (depending on the vehicle) it may also charge the engine starter battery.

Grey waste

Used, dirty water from your sink(s) or shower. Many (but not all) Campervans and Motorhomes will have a built-in tank, which you can empty by driving over the grey waste disposal tank at many campsites.

If you don't have a built-in tank, you may have a Caravan-style waste tank on wheels that sits under your vehicle, with a waste pipe leading to it.

Habitation

The part of your vehicle adapted for living / camping in it, rather than driving it. The facilities for eating, sleeping, personal hygiene, lounging, etc.

A Habitation Check is a service whereby somebody will check those components of your vehicle (including gas, water, etc.). Unlike an MOT, it is not a legal requirement to have a habitation check, but on new vehicles it may be a condition of the warranty.

Inverter

A piece of equipment that will convert the 12V DC power stored in your leisure battery to 240V AC power for 3-pin plugs. Use sparingly. You still have a limited supply of power in the battery, and many 240V appliances (especially anything that generates heat) will run your battery down alarmingly quickly. For this reason, an inverter should be used with caution.

Most electronic devices (TVs, phones, laptops, etc.) require DC power anyway, and the power supply that you use at home will incorporate a transformer to convert to DC, so it's usually better to find a power cable that can use your 12V power directly where possible.

Layout

The internal design of (primarily) the habitation area of a vehicle. Layouts are often generally classified by the area that is at the very rear of the vehicle. Some manufacturers include an abbreviation in the model name to denote the basic layout, but there is no consistent naming convention, so you can't rely on it.

The details of where everything is will vary even within the general types, but some examples and abbreviations that you might find used for them are:

• End Kitchen (often with the washroom in the corner opposite the habitation door) - EK

• End Lounge - EL

• End Washroom

• End Bedroom - EB or FB

You can have bunk beds, fixed twin beds, fixed island beds, fixed French beds (in a corner, with the opposite corner at the foot end missing), or drop-down beds. Beds may run along the length of the vehicle or across it - transverse.

Daytime seats can often be converted to night time beds (either singles or doubles).

Leisure battery

A battery designed to provide power for the 12v appliances in your Motorhome. Note that the characteristics requirements for a leisure battery are very different from those for the vehicle's starter battery.

If you need a replacement, make sure you get the right type. You'll also need to check its physical size, and the placement of the +ve and -ve terminals to make sure it will fit in the space available for it.

MAM / MPTMW / GVW (legal weight when driving)

• MAM: Maximum Allowable Mass

• MTPLM: Maximum Technically Permissible Laden Mass

• GTW: Gross Vehicle Weight.

There are important legal implications relating to your Motorhome's weight when driven.
It is your responsibility to make sure you know what your weight limits are. Ignorance of the law is not a valid defence.

These are three different terms for the maximum that your vehicle with all its contents is legally allowed to weigh when driven on the road. You will find a plate that shows the vehicle's licenced maximum (often on the door frame of the driver or passenger door). It should also be recorded on the registration document.

If a vehicle's MAM is more than 3500kg (3.5 tonnes), it is illegal to drive it (regardless of what it actually weighs) unless you the C1 or C category on your driving licence.

The maximum total weight (including all passengers and contents) that you are allowed to drive depends on two things. One is your personal driving licence and the other is the licenced maximum total weight of the vehicle.

Never assume that because a Motorhome is designed for a particular number of people to sleep in it that it will also be legal to transport them and all their belongings in it. In fact, the larger the Motorhome, the less likely this is to be true, as the vehicle itself will be heavier, leaving less payload weight available for people and their belongings.

The difference between your vehicle's MAM and its unladen weight is its Payload

Down-plating

Many Motorhomes are licenced artificially low at 3500kg (down-plated), even though the vehicle is technically safe to carry more weight. This is to allow it to be driven by anybody, even if they don't have the C1 category on their driving licence.

If you have a large Motorhome with a correspondingly small payload, and everybody who will drive it does have a C1 licence, it's a fairly simple paper exercise to get a vehicle re-plated up to its maximum technical weight, but you must be aware that by doing this you will limit the number of people who can legally drive it (and therefore its potential resale value).

Vehicle Weight Licencing

You can find more information on the UK Government Website
https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-weights-explained
and about the penalties for excess weight offences at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-graduated-fixed-penalties-financial-deposits/dvsa-roadside-checks-fines-and-financial-deposits#excess-weight-offences

Driving Licence Categories

You can find more information on what categories of vehicles your driving licence allows you to drive at
https://www.gov.uk/driving-licence-categories

Note that online renewal of your driving licence at the age of 70 will remove the C1 category from your licence.

The entitlements you have are shown on your licence. If your licence was issued before 1 January 1997 it may already include some higher categories.

You can find more information about adding higher categories to your licence at
https://www.gov.uk/adding-higher-categories-to-your-driving-licence

Motorhome

Generically, any vehicle that you could live and sleep in.

More specifically, usually a Coachbuilt or A-Class vehicle, and/or one that is larger or has more internal facilities, but there's no hard and fast definition of the distinction between a Campervan and a Motorhome.

Off Grid

Not hooked up to mains power (EHU).

Payload

The weight of the amount of "stuff" (including people) that you can carry in your motorhome. This is the difference between your vehicle's MAM and its unladen weight.

Pop top

A roof (or the vehicle that has one) which can be raised for better headroom when parked, and lowered for driving.

Pros:

The lower height for driving typically offers better fuel economy that a taller vehicle, and can get into car parks and garages with height restrictions, which means you can more easily use it as a day-to-day vehicle.

Some designs also include an "upstairs" bed which can be dropped down at night and hinged up out of the way to give more headroom in the parked vehicle during the daytime.

Cons:

May not be as warm as a solid bodied vehicle in cold weather.

More moving parts to break, wear or fray.

Solar panel

A way to top up your leisure battery (and optionally engine battery) when off grid.

Transverse bed

A bed that runs across the vehicle, with the head at one side and feet at the other. Both fixed beds and those that are converted from day-time seating can be transverse in orientation.

Wild Camping

Often misused interchangeably with the term Off Grid to denote camping in places that aren't official campsites and where you don't have access to EHU. In many parts of the world, you can't legally just turn up in a Motorhome or Campervan and stay anywhere you like.

Properly used, this refers to camping in a tent. As part of Scotland's access legislation, the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, you are allowed to camp on most unenclosed land. See www.visitscotland.com for more details.

Related articles

• Buying and Using a Motorhome (a list of other articles)

• Asking for help

• Responsible Motorhoming